


The Five People Madara Finds Tolerable (and The One He Detested)

by enefea



Series: Natsume Week 2017 [1]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, i kinda turned him into a lush lol, madara is condescending, more than he usually is anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 00:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10978884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enefea/pseuds/enefea
Summary: Prompt: Greetings/Goodbyeswritten forNatsume Week Day 1





	The Five People Madara Finds Tolerable (and The One He Detested)

**5\. Natsume Reiko**

It all started with Natsume Reiko.

Madara met her while on his way to visit Tsuyukami.  She was an intriguing creature.  Not only did she possess the ability to see ayakashi, she was also able to hold power over them.  And she wasn’t quite shy with throwing said power around.  The ayakashi in the surrounding area were split between adoring her and resenting her.  However, it was an undisputed fact that all of them respected her.  Although a weak and puny human, she held great power.  She had challenged Madara to a duel and, although she had lost, she had gained Madara’s grudging respect for her clever tricks.  [If someone said he was thankful to whatever deity there is who look over the ayakashi for letting him win, they were lying.  He did not win because of luck.  He was just great and powerful.]

During the early months of their acquaintance, he had thought she was just the same as those other humans who wielded power, those exorcists.  But as he watched her over the course of a few visits, he found himself at a loss.  Because even though there was something arrogant about her ways, there was also something kind about how she chose ayakashi to duel with and the kind of challenge she presented them.  Watching her interaction with her fellow humans made him realize why.

Natsume Reiko was lonely.  And of all the things ayakashi truly understood, loneliness was one them.  There was a similarity between the two.  Like the ayakashi, Natsume Reiko was there and yet not.  

If asked, however, he would say that she was cruel because what she was basically enslaving those she had taken names from.  It was even much crueler than those exorcists’ contracts.  To ayakashi, the name is power.  Knowing someone’s name gives someone power over them.  Taking a name gives the other person much more.  That doesn’t mean he didn’t want to take possession of the book.  [It would be so satisfying to order that idiot Misuzu around.]

And no, he wasn’t saying that because he thinks it’s incredibly selfish of her to only think about the now.  Humans are so short-lived that they can never begin to understand that an ayakashi’s memory is far-reaching and when they find something they adore, they would hold it precious to them forever.  

Still, Natsume Reiko made him realize that humans could be interesting.  Unfortunately, humans like Natsume Reiko were few and far between.  No matter what Tsuyukami said, he wasn’t disappointed about that fact.  Tsuyukami was also lying when he said Madara was in denial.

[When he heard that Natsume Reiko went away, he just huffed and tried to ignore the gnawing feeling that life would become monotonous.  And when he found out that Natsume Reiko passed away, he drank because he found it funny to harass the ayakashi of Yatsuhara.  Only that and nothing more.]

 

* * *

 

**4\. Tsuyukami**

When they first met, Tsuyukami was just like any other ayakashi.  Powerful, yes, but not as strong as Madara.  However, like Madara, he was going wherever the wind would take him.  The first meeting was by chance in a well-known sake-spring.  After an exchange of the usual pleasantries, Madara acknowledged that Tsuyukami was someone he could tolerate among all the others in the area.  After trading rumors and drinking his fill, Madara left thinking it would be the only time he would encounter the masked ayakashi.  Until he met him again at a land god’s banquet.  That set the tone for their tentative acquaintance.

They would meet, spend a few days exchanging stories [not gossip, thank you very much] over a bottle or sake [or two, or three, or…], go their separate ways, let their feet take them wherever until they meet again by chance.  It was after a few of these meetings that the two became friends.  You can only meet a stranger so many times before they became acquaintances and then, finally, friends.  

Many seasons passed until he noticed that it had been a while since he had seen Tsuyukami.  At one of their usual haunts [another sake spring overlooking a field of rurikarakusa], he heard whispers that Tsuyukami had settled down in a village somewhere.  When he went to visit, he found out that not only had Tsuyukami decided to live in that small village, he had opted to dwell in a small shrine.  He made it a point to visit as frequently as possible after that.

Not that it was a problem.  Visiting Tsuyukami was fun.  Not only was there always sake among the offerings left by the villagers, there were also a lot of ~~weak-willed~~ ayakashi nearby he ~~could bully into submission~~ made acquaintances with.  

Unfortunately, ayakashi who became revered as gods [and all other gods, to an extent] needed the continuous devotion and prayers of their followers.  Otherwise, they would weaken and one day disappear.  And unlike true gods, ayakashi who became gods are bound to the land they claimed.

Tsuyukami was one who loved to see the world, even much more than Madara, and yet he decided to be bound.  Madara couldn’t understand why but he respected Tsuyukami enough to know there must be a reason for such move; although he did say that he stopped and stayed due to a whim[he could have asked, but it seemed he never found the right time. Or, better yet, he couldn’t find the nerve to ask.  As uncharacteristic as it sounded].  Alas, he never found out what that reason was.  

After not visiting for a while, he found himself sealed into a statue not long after returning.  Later, when the seal was broken, Tsuyukami had faded and then disappeared.

[When the brat asked about Reiko, he would catch himself from mentioning it was Tsuyukami who knew more stories.  Instead, he would huff at the brat and say he had no time for such silly things and ‘there is a bottle of sake calling for me; try not to get eaten while I’m gone’.  He would then head to Yatsuhara and order those weaklings around.  As the night would grow, he would remember a smiling mask, bottles of sake, and colorful stories.]

 

* * *

 

**2\. Fujiwara Touko and 3. Fujiwara Shigeru [grudgingly]**

Madara was extremely fond of Fujiwara Touko.  It was a matter of course. 

He had been alive for centuries.  His power was not to be laughed at and he had earned respect not only from other ayakashi but even from some deities that populated the islands of Japan.  As such, he was no stranger to the various festivities and banquets thrown by these divinities.  He, quite literally, had eaten the food of the gods on a number of occasions.  

And Fujiwara Touko, he was pleasantly surprised to say, can cook food that can rival those served at the tables of said gods.  Sometimes, he may even admit that some of her dishes were better than its counterparts in god-hosted banquets.  And with the frequency she doles out food [because time was irrelevant to ayakashi and for someone powerful like him, meals didn’t necessarily have to be regular], Madara swore he was in paradise.

It also didn’t hurt that Touko just knew where to scratch whenever she petted him.  This he would deny, of course, no matter the amusement he could see in the brat’s eyes whenever she groomed him.

Fujiwara Shigeru, of course, he grudgingly indulges because Touko was quite attached to the man.  Naturally, the fact that Shigeru lets him get away with a piece or two of tempura or slice of sashimi despite the brat’s protestations doesn’t count.

All in all, Fujiwara Touko and her husband were tolerated because they knew instinctively that he was a magnificent being and treated him as such.

[In later years, when the Fujiwaras grew grey and their strength declined, when Shigeru’s eyes dimmed and Touko’s memory waned, Madara would become lazy and would prefer dozing around the porch where he would say had the perfect spot of sunlight to nap in.  And on cold days he would be curled in Touko’s lap or rested against Shigeru’s knee because these humans were warm.  And if the brat would thank him, he would scoff and ask what the brat the was talking about.  He would also ignore the fond smile the brat gave him.  He would, of course, demand that the brat bring him sweets from Nanatsujiya or maybe those cakes from a Western sweets shop.  When their light finally dies, he would suddenly find a newfound inkling for sake and harassing lowly ayakashi.  And if by chance the brat accuses him of being clingy, the brat was just imagining it.]

 

* * *

 

**1\. Misuzu**

Suffice to say, Madara never truly liked Misuzu.  In earlier times, they may have heard of each other.  Such was the fate of those strong amongst the ayakashi.  However, they had never truly met until Misuzu’s name found itself in Natsume Reiko’s book.   It was… an interesting first meeting.  

As always, he was visiting Tsuyukami.  And if by chance he stumbled upon Natsume Reiko playing around with some ayakashi again, it would only be a coincidence and not the true purpose of his visit.  He was also not aware of how Natsume Reiko tends to gravitate towards Tsuyukami’s small shrine whenever the humans became too much for her.  Not at all.

Although Madara, like all ayakashi, had a strange fondness for twisting words, he also had the inclination to be blunt and insensitive.  In the most arrogant and irritating way possible.  He was a powerful ayakashi, anyway.  There was no need for him to watch his words for fear of offending anyone.  It was the others who needed to fear him, not the other way around.

So when he saw Natsume Reiko standing smug and victorious before an extremely large ayakashi trying to sign a small piece of paper, he couldn’t help but snort in amusement.  And when he found out that the large ayakashi was the rumored Misuzu, it sent him into a bout of laughter.  

To say that it was the start of a beautiful friendship would be a lie.  Saying it was rocky friendship would be a great understatement.  And untrue.  A great ayakashi like him would never be friends with someone who lost and was bound to some slip of a human girl.  The fact that Misuzu had underlings and a small amount of territory was a non-issue in light of his loss.

Through the years, though, they settled into some kind of rivalry and grudging acceptance.  And if Tsuyukami was around, the three would drink until dawn while Madara and Misuzu ordered the weak ayakashi around.  Sometimes, during Madara’s travels, he would meet the other by chance at some celebration or other.  There will be contests, battles of will, shows of strength, and drinking the other under the table.  That was how they worked.

After the seal on him was broken, it was Misuzu who ridiculed him the most [maybe not as much as Hinoe, but barbs coming from him stung more].  Madara would console himself with the thought that once he gets the Book of Friends, he would be free to order the other ayakashi around.

[Decades later, when he decided to travel again, it was Misuzu who mostly kept him company whenever they meet.  There would be no challenges, nor would there be talking.  All there was was drinking until dawn.  There would no conversations about Books and contracts and time passing.  They will not reminisce.  And if it was running away, they will not acknowledge it.  This will continue for years to come ~~until thinking and talking about it wouldn’t be as painful~~.]

 

* * *

 

**+1 ~~Natsume Takashi~~ The Brat**  
He was nothing but a brat.  He was annoying and irritating.  He was such a weakling that Madara had his work cut out for him.  He purposely went out of his way to annoy Madara. 

The brat didn’t listen to a word he says.  It doesn’t matter if Madara said something was important over and over again.  The puny brat would just ignore him.  The only thing he had in common with Reiko was his looks.  Other than that, nothing else. 

Sure, the brat was stronger than the average human.  The brat was even stronger than the usual run-of-the-mill exorcists.  The brat may even overpower those measly ayakashi that run rampant in the area.  But he still doesn’t compare to Reiko.  Reiko had sense.  The brat had none.

He was nothing but a weakling who doesn’t know how to take advantage of the tools he had been given.  The Book of Friends was such a powerful tool that anyone who could use it, should.  What does the infernal brat do?  Dissolve it and give back the names to whoever ayakashi met with him.

If that wasn’t enough, he helps all ayakashi that cross his path.  It doesn’t matter that he ends up in dangerous situations.  It doesn’t matter if it seems impossible.  It doesn’t matter if it worries those around him.  It doesn’t matter if he ends up hurt or poisoned or weakened.  The brat would just stubbornly push on and try to do something about it.  Did the brat have any sense self-preservation?  No!  Was he trying to get himself killed?  It looked like it.  Sometimes, Madara wondered if the brat had a death wish.

Madara deeply regretted promising he would keep his eye on the brat.  If he knew that the brat would just willy-nilly put himself in dangerous situations one after another, he would have just eaten the brat and took the Book of Friends then and there.

What pisses Madara the most was that after everything died down, the brat would give him a soft smile, pat his head, and in the most ~~grateful~~ irritating tone say “Thank you, Nyanko-sensei” while offering to buy him an ikayaki or some steamed buns [as if the food would help sate his ire].  

The brat didn’t seem to understand that he was human.  He was breakable.  Madara couldn’t be around most of the time, especially during the time he went to school [the brat even had the gall to hit him anytime he showed up unannounced], and sometimes some ayakashi were clever enough to get past his defenses.  The brat was stupid and selfish. ~~Why must he think only of himself?  Why can’t he think of those people around him?  Why must he be cruel?  Why can’t the brat understand that Madara worries as well?~~

Madara truly detested the brat.

[If by some chance, a few decades later, he leaves and starts traveling again, it wasn’t because the brat’s hair had turned white and the brat had become wrinklier than a prune.  It also wasn’t because the brat was hinting of giving the Book of Friends to him.  He wasn’t running away.  Nor was he afraid of what such changes meant.  Madara doesn’t really keep track of time but if he visits the area once, maybe twice, a month it was only because there was just something fulfilling about harassing the ayakashi of Yatsuhara.  And if he was drinking when a young boy greatly resembling the brat appears before him one day, it wasn’t because he couldn’t feel the brat’s distinctive energy in the area.  He also didn’t care about the letter addressed to him the brat-look-alike found as they cleaned the house the brat used to live in.]


End file.
